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October 2005 Passenger Airline Employment Down 5.5 Percent from October 2004

October 2005 Passenger Airline Employment Down 5.5 Percent from October 2004

Tuesday, December 20, 2005 - U.S. scheduled passenger airlines employed 442,016 workers in October 2005, 5.5 percent fewer than in October 2004, the U.S. Department of Transportation's Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) reported today (Table 1).

BTS, a part of the Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA), reported that the seven network carriers employed 293,767 total full-time and part-time workers - 8.6 percent fewer workers in October 2005 than a year earlier (Table 2). The low-cost carriers reported 74,425 total employees, 0.5 percent fewer than October 2004 (Table 3); and the regional carriers reported 60,274 total employees, 2.3 percent more than the previous year (Table 4).

October was the 10th consecutive month of year-over-year declines in airline employment levels for the scheduled passenger carriers. Part-time employee numbers declined with a 0.8 percent decrease in October 2005 from October 2004 (Table 1).

Many regional carriers were not required to report employment numbers before 2003, so year-to-year comparisons involving regional carriers, or the total industry, are not available for the years before 2003. BTS is providing pre-2003 comparisons for network and low-cost carriers, as well as pre-2003 numbers for individual regional carriers that were required to report in earlier years.

Airlines that operate at least one aircraft with the capacity to carry combined passengers, cargo and fuel of 18,000 pounds - the payload factor - must report monthly employment statistics.

Employment data for Independence Air, which changed its business model from a regional to low-cost carrier in mid-2004, have been included with low-cost carriers for 2003, 2004 and 2005.

Using Full-Time Equivalent Employee (FTE) calculations, employment at network carriers in October dropped 34.3 percent from 2001 to 2005. The biggest declines were at US Airways, down 51.8 percent; and United Airlines, down 43.7 percent (Table 5). In FTE calculations, two part-time employees are counted as one full-time employee.

The seven low-cost carriers, excluding Independence, that were required to report employment data in 2001 and 2005 employed 12.8 percent more FTEs in October 2005 than in October 2001 (Table 6).

The seven regional carriers reporting employment data in both 2001 and 2005 employed 7.8 percent more FTEs in October 2005 than in October 2001. Of that group, Horizon Air and Air Wisconsin reported fewer FTE employees in October 2005 than October 2001 (Table 7).

In this release, Tables 1, 2, 3 and 4 use totals for full-time and part-time employees, while employee numbers in Tables 5, 6, 7 and 8 show FTEs.

The 5.8 percent drop in FTEs from October 2004 to October 2005 was the 10th consecutive month of year-over-year declines in airline employment levels for the scheduled passenger carriers. It equaled the largest decrease for that period. It was also the third consecutive month with a decline of more than 5 percent from the same month of the previous year (Table 8).

Network carriers operate a significant portion of their flights using at least one hub where connections are made for flights to down-line destinations or spoke cities. Low-cost carriers are those that the industry generally recognizes as operating under a low-cost business model with fewer infrastructure costs.

Regional carriers provide service from small cities, using primarily regional jets to support the network carriers' hub and spoke systems.

The Other Carrier category generally reflects those airlines that operate within specific niche markets such as Aloha and Hawaiian Airlines in serving the Hawaiian Islands.

Data are compiled from monthly reports filed with BTS by commercial air carriers as of Dec. 13.

* Independence Air (formerly known as Atlantic Coast Airlines) data have been included in 2004 and 2005 totals for low-cost carriers, reflecting the current change in itsbusiness model from its prior designation of regional carrier.

** Employment numbers in 2003, 2004 and 2005 for Independence Air, which changed its business model from a regional to low-cost carrier in mid-2004, are included with low-cost carriers. The carrier did not meet the standard for filing in previous years.

Note: Many regional carriers were not required to report employment numbers before 2003 so year-to-year comparisons involving regional carriers as a group, or the full industry, are not appropriate for earlier years.